Newt Gingrich has won the Republican South Carolina Primary.
Several weeks ago I was trying to summarize in my mind why I do not like the
former Speaker of the House of Representatives as a political candidate. It
then came to me: Newt Gingrich holds the political ideology of President Ronald
Reagan, and the moral character of President Richard Nixon.
Ideologically, Newt is a conservative, but a forward
thinking conservative. That is, he is not trying to stop progress. Rather, he
is an idea man, and he wants to see these ideas become realities in the future.
I can listen to Newt speak for hours because he has fascinating ideas with an interesting world-view. Like him, I love history, and value the works of authors such as Isaac Asimov. These are aspects of his ideology I find attractive, even though I am more
moderate ideologically than the former Speaker.
My problem with candidate Newt Gingrich regards his
character and credibility. Morally, he strikes me not so much as an immoral man as
an amoral man, at least in his private life. He comes across to me as a man whose
values are on the table and negotiable.
Nixon was like this. He was a proponent of civil rights and
campaigned supporting such policies early in his political career. However, he later
pursued a campaign strategy minimizing these values to appease White racists in
the South, even though he implemented desegregationist policies in practice
while president. Still, Nixon was faithful to his wife and family throughout
his life. So, when I say Nixon’s character was amoral, this pertains to his
political life, not his family life.
Nixon’s political life seems to correspond to Gingrich’s
private life: amoral. Gingrich’s willingness to be unfaithful in his marriage
is well known. He claims he knows he has “made mistakes” and has asked God for
forgiveness. However, a “mistake” is something one does on an occasion.
Gingrich’s infidelity is consistent: he is willing to compromise his values for
personal gain when it is expedient.
What really bothers me, though, is Gingrich runs for office supporting
“family values” and has even co-authored a book with his current wife called Rediscovering God in America (2009:
Thomas Nelson). Yet, Christianity is not about actions alone. It is about God
changing a person’s heart towards Him through Jesus, and as a result changing our heart towards our fellow human beings. As a result,
repentance results in changing one’s character over time. I don’t see
character change in Newt Gingrich. I do see a man who talks about repentance in
legalistic terms rather than heart changing terms. Likewise, he talks about repentance
in an almost dismissive way.
Likewise, what is not discussed in the press so much is his willingness
to change religious affiliations as often as he changes wives, especially when
it is politically beneficial (he was raised Lutheran, but converted to the
Baptist faith when he ran for office in Georgia, and is now a convert to Roman
Catholicism). Changing religious affiliations is not necessarily bad. Personally, I became a Presbyterian recently. What I find of interest is
the motivation behind one's conversion. In Gingrich’s case, it comes across to me as being
self-serving for his political career. It was beneficial to convert to the
Baptist faith in Georgia, and now to convert to Roman Catholicism when running
for president. I may be wrong about this, but this is the impression I get about him.
Ultimately, God is our judge because only He know the intentions of the human heart. He is merciful and forgives a multitude of sins. God especially loves a humble heart (see Micah ch. 6 vs. 8). We are all sinful, make mistakes, and have character problems (see Romans ch. 3 vs. 23-24). So, as a voter, I look
for credibility rather than perfection in a candidate. My dislike for Newt Gingrich
as a candidate is because he lacks credibility and humility regarding his "mistakes."
I am also bothered about his ability to be a competent executive. He was a legislator, not an executive, and has been criticized about his leadership of the House of Representatives by those who should be supporting him in his run for the Republican nomination.
So, I still predict President Obama will be re-elected this year, not
because of his record, but because Republicans will likely nominate a poor
candidate. President Obama is beatable, but only by a candidate who has ideals
and credibility, and is competent to be president. Newt Gingrich has ideas, but
lacks both credibility and competency.
